In light of this verse:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God's law, I will also forget your children. -Hosea 4:6
This statistic is alarming:
ParaPublishing.com reports that “58% of the adult population never reads another book after high school.
Yet one more reason I feel called to make literacy a part of our ministry in the area that we live. A bookstore is cutting-edge ministry if such facts are true.
6 comments:
This really has nothing to do with this, but I would love for you to do a post on churches selling and doing fundraisers in the church and how that compairs to doing that in the temple (money changing in the temple)?
I would like you to pray about it and ask God to speak to you on this as I am seriously needing your opinion on this.
And also what do you think about a church who requires ID and the poor to have to talk to a Pastor before they are allowed help??
Blessings, Cousin Mary
Regarding fundraising in the church vs. money changers in the temple...
I see one distinct difference.. actually two. The first being WHO is involved? Members of the church vs. "businessmen"? That's one difference. The second being where does the money go? A fundraiser with the proceeds going to the church is one thing but a guy setting up shop and pocketing the proceeds is entirely another. I see absolutely no problem holding fundraisers where the money goes 100% to the church.
I know you didn't ask my opinion but I thought I would chime in anyway.
Wes
Mary,
First of all, I think every gathering of believers has to hear God for themselves about what they are supposed to do on the issue.
Second, I think according to the New Testament, there is no temple anymore, no priests, no sacrifices, no mosaic law...all those were shadows. Christ is the pattern now. The church isn't a place anymore but a people. There isn't a holy place or a holy time or a holy man but a holy people.
I think the church gathered is called to be faithful with the resources they pool together. They should make sure all things are done with the poor in mind...with equity. If we add a cost in the terms of money to the gospel, I think we are coming close to the sin of money changing. Money should never stand between someone and the gospel, God forbid. Donations are always a good option to me, be it, events, books, cds or anything else the church provides.
"In the church" as if it is a place, is a dangerous term that leans to far on establishing an "ok" ethic in one place and a "no no" ethic in another place. That isn't new testament in my opinion. All of life is sanctified and holy now. If I buy a book at barnes and noble, Christian supply, amazon or Jacob's well is irrelevant to the believer. One is not more holy than another. I dont believe in the sacred secular divide that has emerged in the christian subculture.
Jesus came in the flesh not a sanitized holy suit that kept him away from all the naughty people or places.
As for:
"And also what do you think about a church who requires ID and the poor to have to talk to a Pastor before they are allowed help??
I just talked to a pastor friend of mine who has been around the block a number of times and in a lot of churches both nationally and internationally. He said to me...People who want to work with kids in churches are either perverts who have an agenda or sincere believers who want to help raise children in the Lord. With that in mind...I would ID, background check and meet with everyone. It's the cost of living in a fallen world. It is wisdom and it is the law in most cases today. If something happened and the church didn't take the necessary steps to protect the innocent in their care...bye bye church...your going to be sued and sunk.
Just my thoughts,
Eric
Eric, I mean ID the people they are helping and making them talk to the pastors before they are allowed help from the church.. Do you think think this is right?
Seems odd...I now that we are working on putting together "a path of help" that puts in place steps to ensure that we are truly helping and not wasting resources that could be helping the truly needy. I think we need to balance the command of Jesus to give freely to anyone that asks and being wise with the limited resources we have to truly help people.
Throwing money at problems rarely helps. There is a lot of scamming going on among the poor. Being wise is critical but being generous is the call of the gospel too. We are still working on this balance. We generally try to put a few steps to ensure the person is genuine and wants real help not just a way to get high or escape having to work for anything. Free is great especially if you are not wanting to ever have to work! I would have to know the situation concerning the church and what they were trying to do first, before I could really make to many statements about what they are doing.
Often churches just dont give away anything because they are using all their resources on themselves. They have not budgeted giving into their "organizations" budget. They do not "tithe" ...they just take and expect everyone to fund their "ministry life" in fact it sounds a lot like the bums that just want to get, but not give too...hummm.
Thank you!! Just wondering your thoughts. I appreciate your time. God bless you Eric.
Mary
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